shopping

Shops I can walk to, followed by those that, while not necessarily geographically near, are an easy bus journey for me (from Rye Lane SE15). Many of these places don't exactly scream 'budget' at you, but I only visit the more expensive shops occasionally, and then for only one or two items - a small handful of girolles from Franklin's perhaps, or a little pot of olives from Brindisa.

The Saturdays-only delights that are Maltby Street and Brockley Market do not really fit within the brief here - shops that are open all week.

rye lane

In the spring of 2011, I went on my decennial visit to the ancestral home in Cheshire. It was the first time I’d been away from Peckham in five years. It was a bit of a jolt. Apart from anything else, I was struck by how amazingly tidy the countryside was. I don’t mean just the towns and villages. I mean everything – hedges, fields, cows. It’s like you’ve walked into a Sunday evening TV serial. But when I returned and walked out of Peckham Rye train station onto the Lane I kissed the ground. Well, no, not really. I’m not that fucking crazy. But I wanted to. This is my manor and I love it.

It’s stating the obvious I suppose to point out that, if you’re skint, it helps to live in a poor borough. You’re catered for in a way that you wouldn’t be in, say, Marylebone or Chelsea. Rye Lane is at its best in the early evening, after the high street names have shut up shop and the Asian, African and Caribbean stores take prominence. We also boast more nail salons per capita than anywhere else in the country.

Persepolis28-30 Peckham High StreetSE15 5DP

Persepolis is rather famous and justifiably so. Like the title of the owner’s first cookbook (Sunday Times Cookbook of the Year 2007 ) says, it’s ‘Persia in Peckham’. There are decadently sticky pastries, great breads, fantastic pickles (including 14 year aged garlic) and much more. There's a small deli counter offering trays of mezze for lunch. Sally’s second book ‘Veggiestan’ is now out.

Khan’s Bargain Ltd135 Rye Lane SE15 4ST

A wonderful shop. Khan’s encapsulates everything I love about Rye Lane. At the entrance, there’s a good display of fruit, vegetables and herbs (they stock fresh dill, not something always easily available, but which I like a lot). Inside, it’s vast. It could easily lay claim to nation status.
Rows of tins, jars and bottles that go on forever.

LidlPeckham High StreetSE15 5DP

Lidl’s is, not to put too fine a point on it, insane. When you first walk in it seems to reflect nothing so much as the despair and hardship of living on the poverty line. This remains true even after their recent refurbishment. Principally because nothing changed. Then you stumble upon bags of padron peppers. Or moose leg steaks, hare, pheasant, partridge, venison and lobster in the freezer cabinets. I'll just repeat that - MOOSE LEG STEAKS. At the time of writing they'd got raclette grills and fondue sets. They were next to the windscreen wipers. And it stocks the cheapest 24 month aged parmesan that I can find.

The 99p Store87-91 Rye LaneSE15 5EX

This is where I get pretty much all of my household items and toiletries. But it’s also worth looking around at the groceries - there's sometimes a surprising find.

Morrison's Aylesham Centre Rye Lane SE15 5EW

I don't shop here a lot, preferring Asda (see below), but they have a pretty good fish counter - offering pouting and carp, for example - and sell cheaper cuts of meat like pig's cheeks. They also stock Bottle Green Elderflower Cordial, which I love.

United Meats62 Peckham High StreetSE15 5DP

I've started coming here, since getting a heads up from Sally of Persepolis, for the halal lamb and chicken.

bellenden road

Flock and Herd155 Bellenden RoadSE15 4DHClosed Sunday and Monday

A top, top butchers. An alumnus of The Ginger Pig, Charlie is passionate and knowledgeable about his trade. Careful sourcing is the key here: pork from Hampshire, beef from Kent, lamb from the Romney Marshes, chickens from Gloucestershire and Suffolk. It's the place to buy game in SE15. Their traditional London sausage won the title of the Capital's Best Banger in 2013. Everything about this shop is just right.

evalina road

Bambuni143 Evelina Road SE15 3HBClosed Monday

A lovely delicatessen and coffee shop. The coffee is from Volcano, the pork pies from Brays Cottage, the bread from Brick House. There's an excellent selection of cheese, salami and prosciutto and the shelves are stacked with interesting bottles and tins. Shipton Mill flour is sold by weight. And check this out - they have a refill system for wine and oil - buy an empty bottle and fill up, then bring your bottle back for refills.

I am displaying no local bias when I say that this is one of the best fishmongers in London. Much of the fish from British waters is bought direct from day boats. I eye the turbot with a pauper’s wistful longing, but I regularly buy squid, mackerel, sardines, flounder, pollock, gurnard, hake, sea bass and sea bream here. And the occasional small tub of crab meat.

Ayres The Bakers131-133 Evelina Road SE15 3HB

Ayres is close to the heart of every Nunhead resident. Before everything went tits up with the Suez crisis, all bakeries in England were like this. Gloriously traditional, it opens at six twatting A.M.! Just in time for me to buy my breakfast doughnuts. You’ll find no ciabattas here, my friend. I will countenance no bread for a bacon sandwich other than their farmhouse white. I also like their light rye and granary.

R Beaumont*121 Evalina RoadSE15 3HB

In some ways, a typical local greengrocer, in that there’s nothing exotic or trendy on offer here. But what they do have is well sourced and they have a loyal local following and a big fan in yours truly. And they sell parsley by weight, which is useful when you’re buying for one.

* The sign above the door says 'Rudd's' but it's not.

H.A. Smith113 Evelina RoadSE15 3HBI used to ignore this place, favouring the lovely Naz as my local butcher. Sadly, he ceased trading in 2011 . A casually dismissive tweet of mine prompted replies of strong support for Smith's. Vincent Ayre tweeted: 'I have always found Smith's to be a very good butcher - good quality meat, superb poultry. I get all my meat there.' So I've realised I was unfair and have started using them. A no-nonsense high street butcher.

no. 37 bus

There’s some very good tucker to be found around Lordship lane. You’ll get top quality meat and fish from William Rose and Moxon’s respectively. And there’s the lively Northcross Road Saturday market, starring the G.G. Sparkes butcher’s van and the Dogfather. But here’s where I tend to shop:

The Cheese Block69 Lordship Lane SE22 8EP

Whenever I walk in here, I can’t help but feel that they don’t seem particularly happy selling cheese. No matter, they stock an excellent and wide range.

SMBS Foods75 Lordship Lane SE22 8EP

The sister shop to the Cheese Block, they have a good choice of fruit and vegetables. A lot of what’s on their shelves falls into the ‘health food’ bracket.

Franklins Farm Shop 155 Lordship LaneSE22 8HX

An offshoot of Lordship Lane’s best restaurant. A small selection of food from Franklin’s kitchen (tubs of welsh rarebit for example) compliments a very upmarket display of fruit (little known varieties of apples etc.) and vegetables. I like this place a lot.

no. 36, 436 or 12 bus

Cruson26 Camberwell Church StreetSE5 8QU

They’ve been selling fruit and vegetables here for forty years and counting. Whatever I buy always seems to cost much less than I was expecting. A delight amongst the exhaust fumes and bedlam of Camberwell.

Sophocles Bakery24 Camberwell Church Street SE5 8QU

I come here to buy daktyla (the seed-sprinkled loaf that you can break off into ‘fingers’) for 85p and flat bread the size of a football pitch for 70p. Ridiculously good value.

no. 36 or 436 bus

Italo13 Bonnington Square SW8 1TE

Set on a corner of the 'fuck me, I wished I lived here' Bonnington Square, with its magical Pleasure Garden, this is a wholly delightful little deli/cafe, its tables spilling out onto the pavement. They sell their espresso beans for the great price of £2.80 per 250g, and stock Franco Manca bread.

no. 78 bus

AsdaOld Kent RoadSE1 5AG

Back when I was a man of some considerable substance, Waitrose Canary Wharf was my supermarket of choice. It’s got a sushi bar for fuck’s sake. Nowadays it’s this Asda. Yet, should I ever find myself in funds again, I’m not sure as I’d change back. (There is a small and poorly stocked Asda on Rye Lane, on the site of the old Iceland, but unfortunately it retains much of the latter's East Germany circa 1970 atmosphere). I genuinely like shopping here. I only tend to buy the basics (and fruit and vegetables), but I detect a foodie sensibility at work. They used to sell Jules Destrooper Almond Thins (my biscuit of choice) although they now sell their own brand. They also stock wicked drinking chocolate from The Spanish Chocolate Co. Plus there’s the Asda Price Guarantee. And I believe it was they who coined the term ‘whoopsies’.

W. Bunting13 Peckham Park RdSE15 6TR

One stop prior to Asda, this is a fine butcher. They do a big restaurant trade, so have a wide range and can get you anything in. The last time I asked for bavette here, they brought out what looked like half of a cow and cut it off for me there and then.

no. 78, 63 or 363 then no. 21 bus

Borough MarketSE1

If you're going to come for the market proper, I'd advise going Thursday before lunch to avoid the worst of the crowds.

GastronomicaLocation: Middle MarketMonday - Saturday

Gastronomica are a superb importer of Italian produce specialising in small artisan producers. They supply Locanda Locatelli, which should be recommendation enough for anyone. If I owned a deli, these are the people I’d get all my Italian foodstuffs from. Apart from Borough they are at three other markets and also have two shops. Last New Year, this is where I got my fresh cotechino .Ginger PigLocation: Middle MarketTuesday - Saturday

This is about as good as it’s possible for a butcher to get. If you’re a meat lover, here’s where you should come to worship. Brawn, onglet, pork rib chops and pork belly seem to be my most regular purchases here.

BrindisaLocation: Middle MarketTuesday - Saturday

Brindisa can take much of the credit for the fact that Spanish food is finally getting, in the UK, the reverence that is its due. Unbelievable quality. I mainly come here to scream ‘HOW MUCH FOR A PACKET OF FUCKING LENTILS?!?!?!’ before being asked to leave.

Neal's Yard Dairy6 Park Street SE1 9ABMonday - Saturday

A veritable cathedral of cheese with produce from around seventy cheesemakers on farms around Britain and Ireland. A glorious shop.

no. 177 bus

The Cheeseboard26 Royal HillGreenwichSE10 8RTClosed Thursday afternoon and SundayDring's22 Royal HillGreenwichSE10 8RTClosed Thursday afternoon and Sunday

A perfect example of a regular shopping trip that might not seem all that convenient for a Peckham resident but, in fact, is an easy twenty minute journey on the 177.The Cheeseboard, of course, is the inspiration and source for all the marvellous cheeses recommended on this page.

Dring's is it's sister shop and another excellent butcher - dry-aged Longhorn, Galloway and Red Poll beef, free range pork from Blythburgh, lamb from the west country. Charlie used to work here before he opened Flock and Herd.

no. 63 bus

The Gazzanos167-169 Farringdon RoadEC1R 3ALClosed Monday; Open Sunday 1000-1400And I’ve saved the best until last. This salumeria, ‘Italy in a shop’, is absotively posilutely my favourite place to buy food in London. I come here once every couple of months to stock up on pasta, cheese, salamis, sausages, grilled artichokes, salted anchovies and capers, oils and vinegars. There's no pretension or self-regard here. Just a family running a shop as they have been doing since the beginning of last century. I can do no better than quote Matthew Fort from his 2010 obituary of the sadly departed patriarch, Joe. I think he's describing the shop as it was before the 2006 refurbishment, but the description holds true:

‘The first thing you noticed as you went into Gazzano's…was the smell, perfume rather – the sweet savour of cured pork overlaid by the clean, lactic tang of cheese and the heady blast of coffee…Gazzano's, founded by Joe's family a century ago, was a model of its kind, shelves piled with rustling bags of pasta asciutta, dried pasta, ranks of bottles and tins of olive oil and carefully selected wines. It cheered you up just going in there, browsing over the display cabinet of salamis speckled with fat and peppercorns, legs of prosciutto or rolls of porchetta ready to be carved, and mortadellas as round as cannon barrels. There was an array of cheeses, laid out with artful casualness, and neat tumps of sausages, glistening and tied to each other with string. Around the corner were the fresh pastas, raviolis with two or three different fillings...agnolotti and tagliatelle.’